Pfizer has agreed to pay a record $2.3-billion settlement for illegal drug promotion, the Justice Department announced yesterday. It was accused of illegally marketing four drugs: Bextra, Geodon, Zyvox and Lyrica. Josh Meyer reports that the settlement reflects an emphasis by the Obama administration on holding U.S. healthcare corporations accountable, particularly for "off label" marketing -- promoting drugs for uses that have not been approved by the FDA. But experts tell him that some companies will continue to risk prosecution because the fines and penalties pale in comparison with the extraordinary profits that can be made. "We were actually …

The supermarket price war in Southern California is about to re- erupt as Vons announces today that it's reducing the price of about 15% of its stock -- 5,000 items or so -- in 274 stores. Ralphs says that it, too, will make "significant" reductions. Albertsons and Stater Bros. also have reduced prices on many products in recent months. "It is almost like the old gas wars," cheers one shopper, who says he's already noticing a 10% to 30% reduction on his register tape every time he shops (he's no doubt noticing a whole lot more, see story above). …

American Express launched a major campaign yesterday that urges consumers to take responsibility for their spending by using plastic instead of paper. The tagline is "Don't Take Changes. Take Charge," Laurie Burkitt reports. "Coming out of these tough economic times, we need refocus on our customers and give them a sense of greater control," says Deborah Curtis, vp of global advertising at American Express. It's also supposed to make AmEx look like it cares about its cardholders, Burkitt writes, and not just how much they spend. AmEx has good reason to encourage responsible spending, actually. Its marketing budget …

A picture that accompanies this story is worth way more than a thousand words: a foot-long receipt from a Duane Reade drugstore dwarfs the single packet of Trident gum whose purchase it documents. But that doesn't come close to the two-and-a-half foot transaction souvenir reportedly spewed out for a Hula Hoop at a Chicago Kmart. Ilan Brat and Ann Zimmerman take a, pardon me, long look at the coupons, return policies, loyalty points and other bits of information (like requests to fill out long surveys) that retailers are tacking on to receipts. The practice is leading some consumers to …

L.L.Bean says it wants to develop a clothing line -- dubbed L.L.Bean Signature -- that you can wear downtown as well as upstream, reports Maine Public Radio's Susan Sharon. And to accomplish that feat by next year, the venerable catalog company has hired 40-year-old stylist Alex Carleton. Carleton worked for Ralph Lauren and Abercrombie & Fitch before creating a hipster T-shirt business that grew into a full clothing collection, Rogues Gallery. He says the twain shall not meet. "It is not L.L.Bean by Rogues Gallery. When I am working on L.L.Bean, I am thinking of L.L.Bean and thinking of …

BMW's Mini isn't a "traditional" luxury brand, but the subcompact can cost more than $40,000 and thrives on its exclusive nature, David Welch writes in "The Auto Beat" blog. So it may very well face the quandary all successful luxury brands eventually do: What constitutes too much of a good thing? When it becomes ubiquitous, a brand is not, by definition, exclusive anymore. Mini USA vice president Jim McDowell believes the Mini could grow from its current rate of about 50,000 cars a year to 80,000 or more without doing any damage to its image, and could rise to beyond …